good friday morning. coming up on "early today," vice president joe biden ready with his gun control recommendations for president obama. major concerns among top military brass that budget consults and hiring freezes could create a department of defense with a hollow force. government sting. the dea set up our own service service agents with prostitutes. all that with the growing flu epidemic. one year since the "costa concordia" and because it's friday, twiggy, the water skiing squirrel. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, january 11th, 2013. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. vice president biden continues to hold meetings as the head of administration's gun control

task force. thursday, biden met with gun rights advocates, including the national rifle association as well as gun retailer it's and representatives from the entertainment industry. while participants described the meetings as open and frank, the nra had harsh words for the vice president afterwards. >> the administration was able to check the box and say they'd talked to the representative of firearms owners and the groups that support the second amendment, and now they were going to try to proceed with what they wanted to do. >> as those meetings were taking place, another school shoot. this one in a rural count any in california. one student was wounded and a 16-year-old was taken into custody. back in washington later today, biden meets with members are of the video game industry. he'll present his recommendations to the president on tuesday. this terrible flu season continues and the virus has reached epidemic levels in some cities. given the amount of media attention to this outbreak, people are now rushing to get their flu shots. as nbc news' dr. nancy snyderman

reports the demand is leading to a vaccine shortage in some areas. >> reporter: the cdc said 128 million doses have been delivered. only 135 million have been made. this year's flu is especially vi vi virelent and can spread quickly. experts say you can be exposed to the virus six feet away from a person who coughs or sneezes. once you're infected it's easy to pass it on to family. an adult can be sick for 24 hours before they feel ill. and make others sick for up to a week afterward. children may be contagious longer than a week. >> in addition to getting a flu shot, doctors recommend frequently cleaning your hands and the areas around you. for a little bit of perspective, here's a disturbing fact. the average desk at work is reportedly 400 times dirtier than the average toilet seat. the fda is ordering the makers of ambien and other sleep medications to cut in half the dosage of those drugs especially for woman it can stay in the levels of blood to make it

difficult to drive or concentrate the next morning. women metabolize the sleeping pills more slowly than men. the fda says it's received more than 700 reports of driving-related mishaps related to common sleep aids like ambien. defense secretary leon panetta is moving to prepare for drastic military cuts if congress can't reach a deal on a budget and automatic spending cuts take effect. panetta has ordered cost cutting measures including delaying contracts and a freeze on hiring. both panetta and general martin dempsey, the chairman of joints chief of staff agree that the military readiness should not be affected. >> this fiscal uncertainty has become a very are serious threat. for national security. readiness is now what's in jeopardy. we're on the brink of creating a hollow force. the very thing we said we must avoid. >> secretary panetta has said he intends to exempt u.s. troops from any cuts. afghan president hamid karzai is in the middle of his visit to the u.s.

he met with secretary of state hillary clinton thursday. they talked about handing off security responsibility to afghan forces by the end of 2014 as well as preparations for elections next year. at one point secretary clinton joked to karzai about defense secretary panetta's plans to retire to his walnut farm in california. >> secretary pan net, in addition is at last with walnuts. >> clinton and panetta had a private dinner with karzai. and karzai meets with president obama later today. there's new information about last year's secret service scandal involving prostitutes in colombia. according to an investigation by nbc news two u.s. drug enforcement agents facilitated a sexual encounter between a prostitute and a secret service agent just days before president obama's visit to cartagena in april. the findings reveal the agents tried to destroy incriminating information that led to the incident. the case has been referred to

the dea. louisiana governor bobby jindal has declared a state of emergency after a severe weather system rolled across the state. security cameras at an industrial plant caught a glimpse of a tornado that tore through plaquemines causing some roof damage and swirling debris. but the real damage has come from flooding. much of the state has been soaked by a slow-moving storm system. and speaking of storms for a here's dylan dreyer for the weather. good morning. >> good morning, too, we're actually going to see this same slow-moving system bring rain up from illinois, indiana and ohio today. it's going nowhere fast. that's the problem. that's why we did end up with several inches of rain down across louisiana but they'll dry out today. the and you see where the heavier rain has moved into areas like chicago, michigan and eventually taking over indiana and ohio as well. this is a pretty strong system and that out ahead of it is really warm. and back behind it, it's really cold. so we are going to see -- we're

seeing conditions still continue across areas through central and northern minnesota. but heavy rain from nashville right up into detroit and into the northern peninsula of michigan as well. we're looking at now this time around, two to three inches of rain from southern ohio, right down to western kentucky. but look at our temperatures. chicago goes from 58 today to 53 on saturday to 26 degrees on sunday. but in washington, d.c., it's the opposite, 49 to 59 to 68 degrees. it does look really nice across the east coast through the weekend. that's a look at the weather across the country now here's a peek out your window. today in philadelphia, about 47 degrees. tampa, florida, should top out around 80. even for them, it's going to be so degrees above average. cleveland, ohio, 56 degrees and we're even looking at 70s in memphis. >> so we are going to see the temperatures continue to warm up through the weekend and it actually lasts through the start of next week.

>> i kp believe the weekend temperatures. awesome. stocks rock as the s&p hits a five-year high. an update on those stranded whales. and house to of white collar jobs coming to the u.s. plus, nbc's michelle kosinski live from italy where the "costa concordia" ran aground one year ago. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by thermacare heat wraps, no pills, no pain, just relief.

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welcome back. here are some other stories making news this morning. in colorado james holmes will be tried in the aurora theater rampage that left 12 people dead and another 70 wounded. defense lawyers said they were not ready to enter a plea and are expected to use an insanity defense. in canada, 11 killer whales that were locked by ice with only a small area of open water for them to surface and breathe are now freed. a change in the water current may have helped break open a path to the sea rescuing the orcas. a worried south carolina

governor nikki haley said a tearful good-bye to her husband captain michael haley. after a month of training he'll deploy to afghanistan. and a very big snake hitched a ride on a qantas airline to new guinea. the ten-foot pine thon lodged itself through the fuselage and the wing and did not survive the flight. on sunday, it will be one year since the italian cruise liner, the "costa concordia" ran aground killing 32 passengers. preparations are under way for the memorial at the half-sunken ship. nbc's michelle kosinski is there with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mara. people are already starting to arrive here on the island for that service on sunday. and it always amazes people to see that, yes, the ship is still here in the exact same position it was. what has changed, you can see the enormous structures the salvage crews have built around it. they are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to prepare to

finally roll it over upright and then float it out of here, probably not until the fall. but you know what, today, you talk to the survivors of that wreck, and for them, the emotional aspect is just as present, just as large. there's still a lot of anger toward the company that this happened at all. and they say for the way they were treated after the wreck. so on sunday, there will be a memorial service for the 32 who did not make it off this ship safely. among them, an american couple, a little girl, a woman on her honeymoon. as part of this service, there will be a moment of silence. a mass. and then crews will take the boulder that the ship struck that caused that enormous gap, and they will put it back in the sea in the place where it originally was. mara. >> nbc's michelle kosinski, thanks so much. stocks on a roll as the s&p hits a five-year high. and big news on the aviation front. later this morning, the faa will hold a news conference announ

announcing is will review the latest issues relating to the 787 dreamliner. the new plane experienced three problems this week alone, including an electrical fire that caused severe damage to one plane. good news from ford which plans to hire 2200 new workers including engineers and computer programmers. the hiring will happen this year as demand for new vehicles picks up. bad news from american express which plans to shave about 5482 jobs, most of it travel business as more customers book trips online. scholastic has donated about 1 million new books to schools in new jersey that were ravaged by hurricane sandy. did shell oil move an oil rig that ran aground to avoid millions in taxes. that's the question congressman ed markey is asking, but shell denies the accusations say the rig was moved because of weather conditions. and if you haven't started planning your summer vacation yet, get started. according to flipkeys.com,

inquiries for summer reservations have ridge 40% just this past week for june, july and august. tim tebow snubbed again. reverend al sharpton teams up with tyler perry for a cold case. plus, turning on your faucet only to find flammable water. details coming up next.

well, it's a yearly favorite. video of the water skiing squirrel. twiggy will be performing at the

boat show in denver this weekend, and word has it she'll be sporting a denver broncos life jacket. she and her owner travel all over the world promoting water and boat safety. she's very cute. here's other news making news in america. in western pennsylvania police believe a squabble between two students ballooned into a pair of full-scale brawls involving up to 70 people. authorities were tipped off by a youtube video that shows students and adults throwing blows. multiple arrests have already been made. and in ohio, a combustible water supply has turned one home into a recipe for disaster. the family discovered elevated levels of methane and chloride in the tap water after a lit candle caused the kitchen sink to flame up with a combustible mix. investigators are stumped because there are no signs of water contamination in neighboring homes. also in ohio, surveillance cameras in a gas station caught a vicious beating. a robber battered a store clerk

before getting away with lottery tickets. al sharpton and ben jealous are calling on them to find felipepy santos and terrence williams. >> anybody else that wants to say anything or speak out about this will be safe. >> perry is offering the $1,000 reward for the men who both disappeared after a run enough with the sheriff deputy. mienl finally, in minneapolis, a rooster hanging out downtown gave animal control officers quite a headache. ♪ the elusive fowl was eventually captured. no word on who it belongs to. in sports we start with a big upset in college basketball. number 4 arizona was surprised by unranked oregon who led most of the way. arizona surged in the fourth quarter, but oregon held on for

a 70-66 upset. and major league baseball is expanding drug testing for human growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs. there's official confirmation that junior seau had cte, a degenerative brain disease, he joins pittsburgh's mike webster dave doerson. bears and others. tim tebow will not be playing for the jacksonville jaguars next season. the team through a general manager said he can't match anyone a scenario in which tebow won't be a jacksonville jaguar even if released by the jets. and baltimore plays the denver broncos and green bay will be in san francisco. sunday, seattle visits the top-seeded atlanta falcons and houston been at new england. and in ohio, at the open, k.j. choi hit his tee shot on

the par 17th hole and his ball lands directly on top of the ball of webb simpson. simpson got a birdie and choi returned with a par. but that's a shot you don't see every day. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, justin timberlake and beyonce have big plans to share with everyone. plus, a real-life rescue with just in the nick of time ending. you're watching "early today."

and welcome back. it is 63 degrees in atlanta but only 13 in billings. so these are the different temperatures across the country and the cooler air is going to start settling into the plains as you go through the weekend. 54 in kansas city. 58 in chicago. some rain will move into the east coast later today, but it will lighten up in intensity. it's not going to be the heavy downpours that we saw across louisiana yesterday. and it warms up on the east coast. 36 in kansas city. and we drop down to the 20s in minneapolis. the warmup is short lived in the middle of the country. in the east coast it will last until next week. it's the cia versus the l.a.p.d. at the box office this weekend. after being in a limited release the past few weeks, "zero dark thirty" is going live off its nominations but the gangster

quad may take first place thanks to box office draws of ryan gosselin and emma stone. what does a 9-year-old quevenzhane wells want to do once nominated for a best actress oscar? do what any 9-year-old would want to do. she's the best actress nominee ever. in case you didn't know it, justin bieber fans, no-no bounds. they're accusing the 18-year-old double ganger of posing as the singer. he said he's not in the picture, she didn't smoke weed and he would never do that to the biebs. justin timberlake and beyonce both announced a new album may be on the way. but beyonce shocked us announcing that a new record would be out january 29th a compileics of old songs plus a new single called "nuclear." "destiny's child" is great news. even justin timberlake, i kind of missed him actually. >> the music and the dancing and the whole package. you know, he's been in so many

movies lately that will be nice to see him getting back to basics. the next one comes from kxas nbc 5 dallas where a driver leaped into action, saving a truck driver from a certain death. elias irving was trapped when he said an angle saved him. >> he was in the truck, the door wouldn't open. we had to pull him through the window. i was so scared it was going to blow. >> the rescue was much sweeter for uribe's children who lost their mom in a car accident just last may. i'm mara schiavocampo. this is "early today." this just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. 4:56. it is a friday morning. temperatures around 50 degrees yesterday. this morning we're starting above freezing with partly cloudy skies. humidity, 82%. the winds is calm. we do have some scattered clouds. no rain as of yet.

we have some mild temperatures. the forecast is coming up. >> thank you. the ravens hit the road to an orleans today. playing out west in denver. >> we are checking on your morning commute on this friday. we have an accident in

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. happy purple friday. >> it will be purple in denver at game time. temperatures are going to be caold.